Angel Wings
by Shinagami
Summary: We all know Heero's track record with little girls is sub-par, but after an intense battle, can he help salvage the ruined life of one young lady?


Hey, if you're looking for the G-wing characters on crack, or a sugar high, or drunk, you're in the wrong place. And no, there is NO- I repeat- NO, yaoi....so just deal with it. This takes place when Heero goes to earth the second time with Wing Zero.(I'm using Hajime Katoki's EW version of the Gundams) I got the idea for this from a manga called Metal Guardian Faust, it deserves credit for my inspiration. 

*Disclaimers*

I don't own Gundam Wing, or anything that has to do with it. If I get the hell sued outta me for this I'm gonna be pissed, cause I'm making any money offa this! Hear that Sunrise? This is all in the name of literature! Okay, okay......on with the show.....enjoy!

Angel Wings

Part one: With Halos of Fire.............

In the late afternoon sun, a blue and white mobile suit flew over a forest and dove into the dense foliage. Weaving and ducking at incredible speeds it closed in on Verona, the city that was home to OZ 12th Mobile Wing Division. They were trained to be the best aerial mobile suit pilots of their time, using the best equipment, and the greatest instructors. They were in for a hell of a day.

"Target....5 kilometers and closing." Heero said as he dodged past several dense trees. He brought up the huge twin buster rifle.

"Enemies confirmed, Aires and Leos." Heero grinned in anticipation of the upcoming battle. Zero's wings flowed downward as Heero brought the mobile suit out of the forest.

"What? Defense checkpoint 5 reporting a Gundam!" An OZ soldier shouted. 

Heero opened fire on the Aires, blowing it away with one shot. Four more suits appeared on the horizon, but with another shot from his buster rifle, Heero took them out.

"Bring all suits to point five! Another OZ Officer yelled. "Damn it! Why has a Gundam showed up here?

"Sir! All of our front line troops are gone! There isn't any sign of them!" A soldier yelled from his post.

Zero dove from the sky, drawing it's beam saber. Heero saw several officers inside a tall building calling for backup.

"The control tower, I'll get it!" Heero said and turned abruptly towards it, dodging a shot from an Aires.

It was autumn, and every year the OZ base held a giant carnival to celebrate. Far below the battle where the carnival was taking place, troops out with their families ran toward the battle, hoping to get to their suits in time to make a difference.

"A Gundam!"

"Took out all the front troops!"

"Here?"

"Let's go!"

Various troops yelled frantically as they ran toward the flaming base. They knew they couldn't stop a Gundam, but their pride and instincts told them to fight anyway. On the side of the carnival closest to the battle a little girl running with her mother fell down.

"Mommy!" She yelled and got to her feet as another explosion knocked her down again.

Zero sliced a Leo in half, the ruined upper torso smashing into a Ferris wheel. Shards of metal rained down on the crowd.

"Civilians! Damn it!!" Heero cursed. There weren't supposed to be any on base.

A large piece of debris landed on a pack of people, including the girls mother. One by one, the rides were exploding, sending shrapnel everywhere.

"No! Those ruthless Gundams!" Commander Gaderhou yelled, seeing the carnage.

Heero blew an unlucky suit into flaming bits of metal and looked down to see the Aires' disembodied arm falling toward the prone girl. "No!"

Zero finished off three Aires that were trying to carry a mobile SAM launcher and dove toward the ground, wings held close to it's body to increase aerodynamics. 

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" The little girl covered her head and screamed.

Zero leveled off not ten feet above the ground and snatched the girl from the ground before the flaming chunk of metal hit her, the poor girl yelling, confused and scared the whole way. Heero brought Zero into a steep climb dodging Aires and Leo fire. Then it disappeared into the dense forest.

"Where is the Gundam?!" Gaderhou asked a technician running by. Gaderhou recognized him as Lieutenant Genki.

"We lost it on radar, sir!" Genki yelled, surveying the equipment, looking for the green blip that would give away the Gundam's position.

Wing Zero landed in a clearing. It knelt as it's eyes dulled. From the cockpit hatch, Heero jumped into Zero's palm. "Hey....kid......hey." Heero attempted to talk to the still screaming girl. He looked around. "Hey, stop it! Look, you're on the ground!" 

The girl stopped screaming and looked at Heero.

"Who are you? Where is my Mommy and Daddy?" She asked.

"My name's not important, who are you and what's your father's name? I have to return you." Heero said like he was talking about some rental videos that were overdue.

The girl looked into Heero's eyes nervously. "My daddy's name is-is....." She stopped.

"Well?" Heero asked, annoyed that this was taking so long.

"His name is Toki Genitoma, and my name is Rushina." She began to cry. "Where's my Mommy?" 

"I don't know. But I need to get you back to them." Heero said coldly, the last thing he needed was this. Relena was too much of a pain already.

"Who are you?" She looked at the mobile suit holding her and jumped. "Is...is that a Gundam?"

Heero looked surprised for a total of three seconds. "Where did you here that?" She might be a threat....Heero began to reach for his pistol before her cowering form dissuaded him.

"My daddy's always talking about a Gundam attacking his base." She said. "He said he was afraid it would blow it up."

Heero stared down the girl. "You're fathers in the military? He thought about the previous battle. //Damn......that makes it more complicated.//

"Yeah. He flies a mobile suit." Rushina said proudly. "He promised me he'd take me flying in it one day."

//I destroyed all that base's Aires...oh, no.// Heero thought. He frowned...which wasn't much of a change from his original face, but Rushina caught it.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked, she sounded genuinely concerned. 

Heero looked into the forest. "Come on."

"Where to?" Rushina said, curious as to what was going on.

Heero didn't reply, but he jumped out of Zero' palm and landed gracefully. 

"Where to?" Rushina asked again as she climbed down the huge hand.

Heero lead Rushina to a jeep parked behind some bushes. He got in the drivers side and motioned for her to get in the passenger side.

"Nah uh." Rushina said, shaking her head.

Heero gave a death glare. "Come on."

"My mommy told me not to ride with strangers." She said stubbornly.

Heero sighed "My name is Heero Yuy. I'm a Gundam pilot. Now you know me."

"Okay." She said happily and got in next to him.

Heero started the car and swerved out onto a road. The jeep winded down the long road. Rushina hummed some cheery tunes while Heero attempted not to grin. //She's so innocent.....unlike me....//

They arrived at the base's main gate, where a key-code awaited them.

"Do you know the access code?" Heero asked. //Maybe she could be some help....//

Rushina tilted her head, confused. "No..."

//So much for that.// "Fine." He punched in the most likely combination.

"Access granted." A computerized voice said.

Rushina looked wide eyed as he drove forward. "Wow! How did you do that?"

"Just be quite for now." Heero said and drove to the guard station.

The guard looked at the kid in the drivers seat. //A little young for a Lieutenant.// "Name and ID."

"Toki Genitoma." He pulled out a forged ID card he always carried. The guard noticed Rushina for the first time. "Is it bring you daughter to work day again, sir?" 

"Uh, yeah.." Heero lied. He nudged Rushina, who was wondering why her new friend was calling himself her father's name instead of his. She looked up at him. He gave a look that said, 'right?'.

"Yeah.....he's my daddy." Rushina said, feeling bad that she lied.

" Okay then. Carry on, sir." the guard said.

Heero drove onto the base and stopped at a barracks. He was hoping he could find some information on the Toki guy. Heero got out and looked at Rushina, who was glaring accusingly at him.

"What?" Heero asked, not really caring.

Rushina crossed her arms. "You lied and made me lie."

"Look, it's the only way they'd let me on base." He turned toward the barracks. "Stay there."

Rushina unbuckled herself and followed him inside. "What are you looking for?"

Heero turned on a computer sitting at a desk. "Something." The computer terminal showed the latest records of all the soldiers there.

//Lieutenant Genitoma, Toki. Pilot of mobile suit Aires. Deceased September 14. That's today....//

Rushina strained to see over his shoulder. "What's it say?"

Heero clicked off the terminal. "Nothing. You hungry?" He tried to change the subject.

"Uh...kinda." Rushina said as she patted her stomach.

They drove into town and stopped at a restaurant. Heero followed Rushina inside as she ran to sit in a booth at the back.

Rushina looked at the menu. "I want a steak!" She pointed at the most expensive thing on the menu.

"Yeah, fine." He got up and went to the phones. mentally he recalled Duo telling him that he'd be on Earth for a few days on business. //Damn idiot's probably going to a bunch of raves....//

"Hey! Wait!" Rushina yelled and ran to catch up with Heero. She stopped when he gave her a dual linked death glare.

"What?" He asked, his irritability evident.

Rushina looked curiously at her new friend. "Who are you going to call? My Daddy?"

"No, I need to call a friend of mine." He realized only seconds after he'd said it that he'd called Duo a friend. The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

"Hello, Sweeper Construction. How can we help you?" Duo said cheerfully.

Heero sighed mentally. "Meet me at the restaurant near the city square." He said, not risking using names.

"If this is who I think it is it must mean trouble." Duo said tiredly.

Heero hung up and looked down to see his young charge waiting expectantly. He raised an eyebrow.

"Who's your friend?" Rushina asked.

Heero didn't respond immediately, if he told he then she could tell someone associated with OZ. "He's the ticket to finding you're parents." He said, not giving away Duo's identity while still answering the question.

They sat back down and waited for the waitress to come.

"Hi, my name is Amber and I'll be your server." The waitress said and set down two glasses of water. "What will it be today ma'am?" She asked.

Rushina looked at Heero, who just glared back. "Steak!" She said happily.

"And how do you want that cooked?" The waitress asked. Rushina scrunched up her face in confusion, then looked to Heero.

"Medium rare." Heero said simply. Rushina nodded.

The waitress scribbled something down and turned to Heero. "And you, hansom?" Heero returned her warm gaze with a cold look of disinterest. "The soup of the day."

A bit frazzled by Heero's attitude, the waitress nodded and retreated to the kitchen. 

Fifteen minutes later Duo showed up. Fashionably late as usual.

"Hey, Heero! Long time no see!" He said and waltzed over to the both with the two people in it, stopping to swoon the waitress.

"Look, You have better civilian connections than I do right?" Heero said, wanting to get right down to business.

Duo let out a happy yell. "For once I'm better than you!" He looked down when he felt two ridiculously innocent eyes boring holes in him. It was Rushina staring at him. "Huh? Who's this? A little young for a date, don't you think?" Duo said merrily.

Heero knew this was a bad idea, but from past experience he knew Duo to be trustworthy. "Find a woman with the last name of Genitoma."

Duo looked balefully over to his friend. It seemed he was always doing things for his comrade. And he decided to express that feeling verbally, like he did everything. "Why am I always doing stuff for you?" He was cut short by a young voice breaking in.

"Are you Duo? Are you a Gundam pilot too?" Rushina asked. "You're a lot more friendly than Heero is." She said and nudged Heero's arm for emphasis. 

Duo jerked back in surprise. "What?! Heero, she knows too much!" Duo was about to label Heero insane, but a death glare and an innocent gaze confused him.

Heero pulled Duo off to the side and lowered his voice. "Look, I killed her father and I don't know where her mother is."

Duo winced and looked guiltily back at the girl who was busy eating the steak that had just been delivered. "Ouch, that's harsh. Does she know?"

"No." Heero said, Duo swore Heero almost looked sad.

"Alright......I'll do it for her sake, but you owe me big time." Duo laughed and put his hand on Heero's shoulder, guiding him back to the booth.

"Put it on my tab." Heero said.

Duo turned to leave. "Another thing, there's a convoy of Gundanium being shipped to Sicily, you going?"

"Yeah." Heero had already received word and was planning to go first thing in the morning.

Duo shrugged. Figured. I guess I'll see you there." With a wink to the waitress, and a nod to Rushina, the God of Death was gone.

"Are you going to fight some more?" Rushina asked as she stopped eating her food.

Heero stared out the window. "Eat your steak, it was expensive."

"Aren't you going to eat your soup?" Rushina asked.

Heero looked around the table, he could have sworn the waitress brought his soup......Duo. "I'm not hungry." He said simply.

As Rushina finished her steak Heero handed a credit card to the waitress. It actually belonged to a man named Tetsuedo Hitomi, who Heero had killed on one of his training missions. //His necked snapped like a pasta noodle...// Heero thought humorously, it had been one of his easiest close combat kills.

"Where are we going now?" Rushina asked as they walked out to the Jeep, which now had a yellow ticket under the wiper...... '$50 fine for double parking and ordering bad soup.' It said. 'Pay to the order of Duo Maxwell.' //That jack-ass......// Heero thought. He was snapped back into reality when he noticed Rushina laughing.

"Hmmm?" He inquired.

Rushina smiled up at him. "Your friend is funny. Where are we going?"

"You ask to many questions." Heero said and stepped into the Jeep.

Rushina stomped into the passenger side. "Answer me!" She huffed.

"I gotta find us a place to sleep. Unless you want to sleep on the ground." Heero warned.

Rushina calmed visibly. "Is that where you sleep?"

Heero didn't bother answering, instead he swerved into the street and headed for a commercial zone. Rushina, being a normal ten year old bugged him the entire way about stuff.

"Where were you born?" She asked.

"I don't know."

Rushina wrinkled her brow. "Why are you a Gundam pilot?"

"I forget, ask me later."

Rushina decided to change strategies. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Come on! Yes you do!" Rushina yelled excitedly, she was always interested in other peoples love lives.

Heero knew full well he wasn't like this when he was ten. If he was Doctor J had decent tolerability. "We're there." The car came to a violent halt, throwing Rushina forward. "This is it?"

"You where expecting Château De France?" Heero asked, getting out.

Rushina observed a large gap in the building's wall. "But this isn't even done being built!"

"Which makes it easier for us to get in." Heero said, ignoring her pleas for a nice cottage in the mountains, anything instead of this.

Heero jiggled the door knob to the main entrance, which didn't budge. Applying a little more pressure, he felt the dead bolt give way, along with the wooden door frame. He walked past the bewildered Rushina and into the lobby of the large, dirty place.

"How long are we going to stay here?" Rushina asked, pinching her nose.

Heero tested the stairs to see if they'd hold his weight. "Until Duo finds your parents or OZ comes and kills us."

Rushina thumped Heero in the back of his ear, evoking a grumble from the annoyed pilot. "You're not very funny." She said.

Heero decided it would be more worthwhile not to answer, but instead kick down a door to the most complete room in the building.

"Stay here while I find some blankets." Heero said and walked down the hall.

Rushina sniffed at the peeling wall paper. "It smells funny in here." She called.

"Too bad." Heero said and pried open a closet nearby. // Hmmmm, some fire blankets, they'll have to do.//

Heero returned a moment later with his arms full of green blankets. "Here." He said, dumping the pile of blankets on the floor: 

"What about a bed?" Rushina asked as she crawled over to the pile.

Heero scoped the street from the window. "You're looking at it."

Rushina carefully folded the blankets into a makeshift sleeping bag. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"Hnnnnn" Heero grunted.

"Well you should sleep, you'll be tired." Rushina said, Heero was tempted to smirk at how motherly she sounded.

"I'll be fine. Now sleep." He said.

Rushina wasn't ready for sleep yet, and her new friend was so mysterious. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen, now sleep."

"Well I'm ten, and for my birthday my daddy's getting me a pony!" Rushina said excitedly.

Heero was attacked by a sudden pang of guilt. "That's nice, now sleep."

"Aren't you cold? Sitting on the floor like that?" Rushina asked, noting he was leaning against a cold drywall, too.

"I'm fine, now sleep."

Rushina made a face. She picked up a spare blanket and tossed it at Heero. "Here, take this. I don't want you to catch a cold."

Heero stared, first at the blanket, then Rushina. "Uh...thanks."

Rushina smiled, glad that she was able to get a response from him. "You're welcome! You act so surprised."

Heero looked at the ground. "That's the first time anyone has ever been kind to me."

Rushina's face drooped a little. "Oh, that's so sad."

Heero returned his ice cold facade. "Yeah, now sleep."

"Hey, when's you're birthday? I want to get you a present! And a birthday party!" Rushina yelled suddenly.

"Look, I can't stay with you forever....you need to go back to you're parents." Heero said, even to him he sounded sad. //I can't go getting attached to this girl, she's the same as Relena.

Rushina looked disappointed. "But I can still talk to you, right?"

"Go to sleep."

Rushina shrugged and soon sleep overtook her, and she closed her eyes as her breathing slowed. Heero leaned against the wall and drew the blanket around his shoulders. Even through it's insulation, he felt cold.

The next morning Rushina woke up to discover Heero moving around outside their room.

Rushina yawned and stretched. "Heero? What's for breakfast?"

"Food. Heero said as he entered the room and tossed her a blueberry muffin. "You stay here. I'll be back in about three hours."

Rushina looked worried for a second. "Where are you going?"

Heero sighed.....she asked more questions than a game show.... "Somewhere, now find something to do that doesn't involve getting hurt." He handed her a small portable radio. "Listen to this, but keep it low, don't let anyone know you're here." He made sure the young girl understood him and left. Rushina watched his leave.

"He's so brave....." She sighed.

Heero started up the Jeep and swerved into the forest. Fifteen minutes later Wing Zero was running through the start-up procedures.

"Duo better have found your mother, kid...."

Zero stood up, breaking low branches from the trees, and leapt into the air, it's verniers igniting, throwing the heavy mobile suit into the air. As soon as he was airborne Heero spotted a black form emerge out of nowhere, blue energy crackling from gray emitters on it's shoulders, letting the nightmare suit become visible. It's sharp black wings complimenting the red ribs outlined on it's chest. Had Heero not known this suit was an ally, he'd fear for his safety. //It doesn't fit him at all.....// Heero had caught himself think more than once, even though he'd seen Duo's alter ego, the grim killer, in action. Heero shuddered involuntarily.

"Duo, any word?" Heero asked, opening a comlink with the other boy.

Duo sighed...he really didn't want to tell Heero this, he knew what would happen. "Yes, and no. I found here mother, but seems she's been missing since yesterday."

"Dammit!" Came from Heero's end of the comlink.

"You thinking what I am?" Duo asked, surveying the sky above him for enemies.

Heero nodded slightly. "She died during that battle yesterday."

"No kidding," Duo laughed. "Well, she's your responsibility now." He said merrily, if Heero had trouble with him, Duo knew that a ten year old would drive him insane.

"I need a favor, get Rushina to Hilde. She can take care of her better than you or me."

Duo reeled back in his seat. "How do you suppose I do that? Hilde doesn't know I'm on Earth! She'll kill me for sure if she finds out I'm hanging out with you." 

"Just do it," Heero said archly. "Rushina needs a mother, and neither you nor I can fill that role."

Duo sighed. "Great, just what I need. Whoa! Enemies ahead!" He activated the wicked scythe, as Heero brought his huge twin barreled buster rifle to bear.

A carrier full of Aires flew headlong at them, seemingly on a collision course, until it veered to the left sharply, eight mobile suits dropping from the cargo door.

"Engage them at your own discretion, I'm going for the transport carrier." Heero said, taking charge.

Duo grinned sarcastically. "Don't over do it, of course you're going to." He sliced several Aires in half with one mighty swipe. With the help of his buster shield, another Aires meet it demise.

Zero fired the buster rifle at the plane, which was trying it's best to gain altitude, blowing it to smithereens. Duo smirked as he impaled an Aires on the end of the scythe. A second more and the last Aires went down, curtsey of a rocket-aided slice upward. 

"Was it just me or was that too easy?" Duo asked, wary for more suits.

Heero looked at something that was reflecting light down in the forest. "Be on guard. This could be a trap."

Duo dodged a blast from below. " Mobile dolls!" He looked into the forest, and immediately spotted three dozen Virgos.

"That's eighteen each." Heero said calculating how long it would take to blow the hell out of these.

Duo engaged the suits on the ground. "This is going to be cake." Slicing off the first two Virgo's heads, he aimed at a Virgo a hundred yards away, and blew the visual lens out with his Vulcan cannons.

Wing Zero blew away four Virgos in one shot. Heero glanced at the rifles power indicator and saw it was running low. "Close combat, then." He said as he discarded the buster rifle and drew the beam saber stored in Zero's shoulder. 

"Hnnnnn.....Yah!" Heero yelled and impaled a Virgo's arm on the end of the saber, causing it to explode, taking the rest of the mobile suit with it.

Duo exhaled as the mobile doll that was being skewered by the blade of his buster shield detonated. "More coming in from two o'clock!"

Heero looked up from his strafing run on three Mobile dolls. "40 Virgos!?" He gasped, unbelieving.

Duo finished off the first eighteen Virgos and turned towards the arriving fleet of parachuting Virgos. "This is overkill!"

Checking his radar, Heero saw a group of large blips. "They have backup troops on the way. Finish off these and then retreat!"

"No problem, Hiyaaaaaah!" Duo sliced upward, taking the right arms off five Virgos.

As the reinforcements drew closer, Duo and Heero found themselves fighting the last mobile doll. They each slashed at an angle, opposite of the other's blade. This effectively tore the black doll into three pieces, all exploding as they plummeted towards the ground.

"See ya later." Duo said as he flipped his wings over Deathscythe's body, and switching on the active cloak. "I'll be hanging out here for a while, it seems," Duo called over the com, his voice distorted from the active cloak, as he dropped into the forest to avoid the back-up troops. "If you need me holler." 

Heero said nothing, but turned his suit back towards Verona, and with a blast from his verniers, shot towards Wing Zero's hiding spot.

It was a lot later than Heero had expected, when he returned to the shabby building, almost midnight. Heero knew he was getting sloppy, he'd let the back-up troops survive, and took longer disposing of the normal escorts.

Rushina looked up in time to see Heero sneaking in. "Heero!!" She ran up and hugged him. 

"What-? Let go!" Heero attempted to shake the young girl off him, to no avail.

"I was worried about you, the radio said that Gundams were attacking a transport over the highway. I figured it was you."

Heero nodded. // Sharp kid.// "Guess what?" He said.

"What, what? Tell me!" Rushina asked excitedly and jumped around.

"It's past your bedtime, now sleep." Heero said grinning, it wasn't very often he got to exercise his sense of humor.

"You're still not very funny...." She said and grudgingly laid down on her temporary bed.

Heero sat back against the wall. He noticed Rushina was gazing at him. "You'd better get your sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow." He warned.

"Okay." She said, dragging out the 'okay'. She pulled the blankets over her and was soon asleep. Heero was amazed that someone that hyper all the time could fall asleep almost instantly, when he was a near insomniac. //Duo was right...// Heero decided later that night. //I do need some Prozac.//

Heero was watching a suspicious looking woman standing along the side of the street at around three that morning when a scream shattered his thoughts. Both he and the woman on the street looked over and wondered what the hell was going on, and who was getting their entrails ripped out with a cheese grater.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Rushina yelled in a pitch that was usually reserved for calling dogs.

Heero was upon her in an instant, covering her mouth so that someone didn't realize there were occupants in the building. Heero glared at Rushina for a second before noticing she was sobbing into his hand. He slowly pulled the hand away, making sure she would erupt with another scream.

"You okay?" He asked quietly. She looked up at him with bleary eyes.

"I.....I had-" She sniffled a bit. "I had a bad dream..." She sobbed. Heero was immediately sympathetic for her.

Heero's dreams always consisted of horrible mistakes he'd made, or visions of him killing people that he was ordered to, and of his training. That was the worst, when Doctor J had purposely broken his fingers and ordered him to fix the actuator compressor, which needed precise adjustments, in under three minutes.

"Are you okay?" He asked again, not sure what to do.

She started crying again and latched herself to his waist. "It was so scary.......I dreamed my Mommy and Daddy were....."

"Were?" Heero asked, not wanting her to have to hold it in, like he did.

She started sobbing again, burying her face in his shirt. "They were dead!" She wailed, though her cries were muffled by Heero's muscle shirt. 

"I understand how you feel." Heero said quietly. She stopped crying into his shirt and looked up at him. His face betrayed no emotion whatsoever, but his voice was filled with sorrow, and remorse. He continued.

"When I was your age, I had no parents. I lived in a small cell and was trained to be the 'perfect soldier' so I could save the space colonies from the earth. Every night I had nightmares, and I had no one to share them with, no one to talk to, and no one to make me feel better. I understand completely how you feel. Please, don't make my mistake, don't hold it in."

Rushina was sure that was the longest string of words he had ever spoken to her. "Thank you....." She managed before a fresh wave of sobbing overtook her, combining her own nightmares with the pity she felt for her friend. When she was done crying, and Heero's shirt was thoroughly soaked, Rushina lifted her head from his chest and smiled. "I'm sorry...for the.." She started.

"Doesn't matter," Heero said. "Now, go back to sleep, you need your rest." Heero felt oddly at home when he was taking care of his young charge, and suddenly it hit him....he wanted to be with Relena, and to raise a family. //If only this damn war would end.// Heero was vaguely aware of Rushina nuzzling up against him and falling asleep as he found his purpose once he was done fighting. He still needed to plan a few things out, but he was sure that it was the right way to go. If he only knew then, that the war would drive him and Relena farther apart than he'd ever expect, and that he would almost assassinate her. 

"Damn you Doctor J" Heero thought as he wrapped his arms protectively around Rushina.

The next morning found itself with an empty building, which was previously occupied. The two boarders had left along with the night. Heero had woken up at six thirty exactly, and carried Rushina out to the Jeep. Now they were on a road headed for Northern Europe. Heero wished he had commandeered a small two seat aircraft, because the drive there was certain to take the whole of the day. Now at nine forty-two Heero looked into the rear seat, where a bundle of blankets was stirring.

"Heero?" She asked. "Where are we?"

Heero recalled mentally that he'd passed through the Germany/Austria border a few hours ago. "Somewhere in southern Austria." He said and slowed to a stop at the side of the road so Rushina could get in the passenger seat next to him.

"When's breakfast?" She asked as her stomach seconded the movement.

Heero looked down the road as he started driving again. "Whenever we find a place to eat. Maybe never..." He said threatingly.

Hungry, and groggy, Rushina was not in the mood for Heero's dry and cracked sense of humor. "You need to work on that......and get me some breakfast. I want toast, some bacon, and waffles, and some biscuits and also some orange juice and some cereal, with some strawberries....."

"Here you go." Heero said as he tossed another muffin at Rushina. Blueberry again.

Rushina took a bite of the muffin and looked around at her new surroundings. "I've never been anywhere like this before." She said conversationally.

"Is that so?" Heero asked, and turned onto the autobahn. Rushina felt the tiny four-cylinder vehicle speed up, it's engine straining. Rushina shrunk back into her seat as Heero opened the throttle all the way, careening the Jeep down the road. Heero couldn't help but smile as he felt the same way he did when he first flew Wing Gundam into the atmosphere and entering combat with three OZ suits. His smile widened as the Jeep's two left tires lifted off the ground as he poured into a right turn. As he sped down a relatively straight stretch of road he remembered the late night-early morning meeting with Duo.

__

"Heero, you know Hilde can't take her, she's too busy running things home in L2." Duo said and he drank from his beer.

"What do you suggest?" Heero asked.

Duo finished his mug and set it on the bar. "An orphanage is all I can think of, though I'd hate to see her come out like me." 

"Then we have to find suitable parents." Heero said and picked up his tea. A guy with a leather jacket and shaved head bumped into him, making the boy spill his tea.

"Watch it, shrimp." The guy grunted and shoved Heero off his stool. He landed gracefully on one knee and delivered a sledgehammer blow to the thug's stomach. One hit, and the guy was down.

"You gotta quit doing that, man." Duo complained as they were chased out of the bar by it's owner. "That's the third bar I'll never be able to visit again. You draw trouble like light draws moths."

"Speak for yourself." Heero said and nodded to a group of bikers advancing on them.

The lead one took off his helmet-her helmet. That surprised Heero, he didn't know many female bikers.

"Listen, Maxwell. Give me my cash or I'll kill you." She said and pulled a shotgun from a saddle bag on her bike for emphasis, the others followed.

"Hey, babe. I got. Don't worry. Meet me here tomorrow, same time. Then you'll have your money." Duo said convincingly. Heero, of course knew full well Duo had shit, and was tempted to tell that to the bikers.

After they'd left Duo turned to Heero. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare twenty grand, would you?"

Heero continued walking. "Why don't you ask Quatre?" He was only half-joking, but it gave him an idea.

"What?! Give the kid to one of Quatre's sisters? You're crazier than I last remember." Duo said once he had heard Heero's plan. "Besides, Winner boy is off in the Sanq Kingdom, remember?"

Heero wasn't deterred. "Your point? His sisters are still there." Heero walked to were he parked his Jeep. "Just let them know we're coming." He drove away without even getting Duo's answer.

"I hate you, man...." Duo sighed and started walking towards his temporary home with Sally Po.

Heero was now on his way to the Sanq Kingdom to see Quatre and get a plane ride to the Arabian palace where Quatre's sisters had agreed to take in Rushina. She, of course, didn't know where she was going, or that she was going to be under a new guardian.

"Hey, look!" Rushina pointed and laughed as a crop duster flew over. It did a barrel roll and dove behind some trees. Heero was wondering why Duo insisted on putting on a show, he was wasting fuel.

The plan was for Heero to take Rushina into the Sanq Kingdom, with Duo flying over for air support in case OZ decided to invade the country while they were in it. Sally had recently located HeavyArms and flew off to go retrieve it, '...if only we had it's pilot....' were Sally's sad departing words.

Duo was having the time of his life. Agreeing to go along with Heero to _anywhere_ was sure to be interesting, but he was getting to fly an old, old, old...._old_ bi-plane, which was very light and fun to fly, he noted. He saw the small green Jeep take a turn on two wheels, and grinned. //Heero always did think he was Evil Kinevil....// He spun the plane into a corkscrew and let some smoke billow out from the wingtips. Upside down, he could see the little girl giggling and pointing at his antics. He leveled off about a meter off the ground and weaved between large rolls of hay stuck in the ground. //Hilde would love going for a ride in this old crate with me. Hell, she'd want to fly it.// At the thought of Hilde, Duo suddenly cringed, he was going to have to leave her soon. He knew she'd think it was her fault, but he couldn't let OZ or the White Fang know where he was.

"Heero?" Rushina asked. "What's _that_?" She pointed to a large gray thing in the distance.

Heero took his eyes off the road for a second and glanced at it. 'It' was an OZ transport.....and it was unloading Virgos, or so he thought, judging by the small black dots that fell toward the ground.

"Duo," He called into a CB radio at his side. "You see what I see?"

High above the Jeep Duo thought he saw a flash of yellow and some smoke. "Yeah," He looked through a pair of binoculars. "Three Virgos.....no...four...and what the hell?!"

"Dammit, Duo...." Heero cursed. "what's going on?"

Rushina looked scared, then again, she was scared. "Heero? Are bad guys coming?"

"Yeah...hang on...." Heero quickly swerved the Jeep into a 180 at about two hundred kilometers and sped off on a side road that led them directly to the source of the disturbance. Rushina was thrown against the passenger door. She could feel herself slipping out of her seatbelt, and at the speed they were going she knew she was in for hurt. She opened her mouth to scream but a strong hand grabbed her shirt and pulled her back in.

"Stay put." Heero said, eyes focused directly ahead.

Another look through the binoculars proved to Duo that those were indeed Virgos, and that was indeed a white Taurus, with two beam sabers. The only guy he knew that could handle two weapons like that was..... "Winner boy, you just saved Miss Relena's ass." Duo chuckled. He was right over the battle now, and he pointed the plane's left side at the ground for a better look. A surviving Virgo spotted him and decided to take it's frustration of defeat on the lowly bi-plane. Little did the Virgo know that this particular bi-plane was armed....but it wasn't like 26mm cannons would do a hell of a difference against Gundanium. "I'm so screwed......" Duo thought as he banked at a forty-five degree angle down to avoid a blast. "Hey, Heero."

"What?" Came the response, Heero seemed distracted.

Duo brought the plane up again. "It's a lot easier to kill these things in mobile suits...." Duo saw his opportunity, the Virgo moved it's attention from the small red bi-plane to the white Taurus that was leaning over a pink limousine. Duo opened fire at the purple lens camera, putting three or four dozen holes in it before it shattered. The Virgo fell from the sky, and exploded as it hit the ground.

"Wow!" Rushina exclaimed. "Did you see that? Duo blew! him! up!" Rushina yelled each word with more enthusiasm than the last.

"Duo, how's Relena?" Heero asked, ignoring Rushina, who was replaying the battle using her hands as a plane and a mobile suit, making battle noises the entire time.

"She's fine from the looks of it.....worried?" Duo laughed.

Heero pulled up to the scene of the battle. "She has a country to run." He said and got out of the Jeep.

Relena was talking to Quatre about not being able to save just one life, when Heero approached.

"Heero!!" Quatre and Relena yelled at the same time. Relena walked with the blonde boy to where Heero had stopped. Heero met her gaze with and ice cold stare. They stayed like this for a few moments, and probably would have for longer, if a ten year old hadn't walked up and begun tugging on Heero's shirt.

"Heero....Who're they?" She asked. "Heero? Are you listening to me?" Relena and Quatre looked at the small girl, who hid behind Heero.

"Quatre, this is Rushina." He said finally.

Quatre crouched down to meet her eye level. "Hi there, Miss Genitoma. How are you doing?"

Rushina reluctantly came out from behind Heero and took the hand that Quatre was offering. "Fine...."

Heero heard something above him, and his eyes widened in disbelief. He ran up and grabbed Rushina and Relena and lead them behind a tree, Quatre, who noticed the danger a second later joined them. Then all that was heard was explosions and the ripping of fabric, with the occasional curse word.

Heero looked from behind the tree, now impaled by a large airplane prop.

"Duo." He said. He just knew it. 

Duo indeed. The plane had taken a bit of damage during the battle, and the old thing fell apart in the sky. Duo had tried to keep it airborne as long as possible, but gravity won and the red machine had skidded to an abrupt stop right on top of Relena's already damaged limo.

"Sorry about that guys....." Duo said as he climbed from the rubble. "That old piece of shit just can't take damage at all......" He trailed off when he noticed everyone staring at him. "What?"

"Duo......welcome back." Quatre said, finally. Duo smiled and nodded to his friend. "So, where's the Sanq Kingdom from here?"

"About two hundred miles north of here." Quatre said. "Miss Relena was returning from Romefeller and was attacked by some mobile suit on a false practice mission."

"Well, my limo is totaled, and I don't think we can all fit in that," She pointed to the Jeep parked a ways away. 

"Hey, no problem." Duo said. He held out a cell phone and dialed two numbers. One was an ambulance for Pagan, the other was for Captain Noin, leader of the Sanq Kingdom Imperial Guard.

High in the air over the Sanq Kingdom a gray plane circled the country side. "Noin here." She said into the com.

Duo's face appeared on the screen in front of her. "Hey there, how's it going?" He waved.

"Duo? Why are you on Earth?" Noin asked, last time she heard he was on a colony

Duo shrugged. "No time. Get a plane out here, we have Miss Relena and some other folks that want to get home."

"I'm on it. Noin out." She turned off the comlink and turned to the crew of the transport plane. "Okay guys, turn to bearing three-oh-oh-eight ninety-two. Hurry!"

The plane turned south and began the to gain altitude, it's engines thrumming at full throttle. 

"I want full surveillance of the surrounding area, if there are anymore suits around open fire." Noin said. She looked at the small radar and spotted a cluster of dots that signified Relena's limo, Quatre's Taurus and some other vehicles. "That must be them. Line up on the highway and bring it down. Get the meds out there to attend to Princess Relena and anyone else."

The huge plane opened it's flaps and cut throttle down to 25%, nose pointed up and the gear down it slammed the soft ground around the highway, the fuselage was too wide to fit on the road itself. It came to a skidding stop a few yards from the group of people sitting under the forest canopy for shade. 

"Heero, I meant to ask you why you came back." Relena said as they boarded the plane. Heero glared at her and then nodded to Duo, who whisked Rushina away to the cockpit, so she could see the controls and not hear what Heero was going to say.

"I killed her parents....." He started, expecting Relena to reel back in horror or to say something about how awful wars are, but she stood there, calm as ever and awaiting the rest. "She needs a family, so I'm taking her to Quatre's, so his sisters can take care of her."

Relena stood a while longer, debating whether she should be disappointed that he was even capable of doing something like that or glad that he came up with a plausible solution.

"Well, I'm appalled that you could do something that horrible, Heero. Even though I know you had to have had a good reason, it doesn't change the fact that her parents will never come back."

"Miss Relena, Heero gave me the overview of what happened, there was a mistake, and civilians were on the base when they weren't supposed to-" Quatre tried to aid his friend, but a stern look from Relena persuaded him to silence himself.

"So, have they agreed?" Relena asked, keeping her tone even, though her eyes betrayed any chance she had at maintaining a calm facade.

"Yes." Heero said, not breaking her gaze.

Relena considered scorning him some more, but a thought crossed her mind. He could have been killed saving her, and he did take good care of her until now. "One more thing, Heero," She began. Heero was expecting something about staying for a while at the Sanq Kingdom, or about her plans for peace. He was _not_ expecting Relena to suddenly lean forward and hug him fiercely. "Good to see you again, Heero." She said.

Heero was too surprised to do much of anything except put his arms around her shoulders and embrace her. The plane shook violently as it took to the air, becoming enveloped with the golden light of the setting sun.

Continued.......................

*Author's notes.

This had been part one. Yes, there will be more parts. Yes, It got WAFFy at the end. No, I will not make this a lemon. No, this will more than likely not have a happy ending. Not necessarily a sad one, but it will leave ya thinking. Feedback, hate-mail, love letters......send it to mathis478@hotmail.com, or use the dandy little review box right down here.


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